PhD position at Centre Recerca Matemàtica funded by the TOUCH COFUND project

14 Mar 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Centre Recerca Matemàtica (CRM)

Research Field

Computer science

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Spain

Application Deadline

30 Jun 2024 - 23:59 (Europe/Madrid)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

H2020 / Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND

Reference Number

101126533

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

Topic: Modelling circular inference, from the general population to psychotic experience

A PhD position is available at the Computational Neuroscience unit from the Centre Recerca Matemàtica and with collaboration of Person-Environment Interaction in Risk and Resilience for Mental Health Research Group -Department of Clinical and Health Psychology from Universitat Autònoma Barcelona under the supervision of Alexandre Hyafil (Computational neuroscience) and Neus Vidal Barrantes (Clinical Psychology). We are looking for a highly motivated candidate that will investigate discovering computational markers of vertical and horizontal propagation of belief in perception, and their possible dysregulation in psychosis spectrum disorders such as schizophrenia (SZ).

Vertical propagation of belief between low/sensory and high/associative cortical areas was shown to be affected in SZ, leading to circular inference (“see what you expect to see”) that may be at the origin of the psychotic experience (Jardi et al Nature Communications, 2017). In this project, we want to provide new computational markers for horizontal propagation of belief (i.e. within the same cortical area) which may also lead to circular inference, and measure their possible association with traits associated to the schizophrenia spectrum.

The project will build on a novel theoretical framework developed in the lab explaining how perception is shaped by belief propagation between populations of neurons coding for different parts of the visual field. In particular, this framework explains the emergence of bistable perception as a typical case of circular inference. We would first like to confirm preliminary experimental evidence and validate this framework in a series of novel visual, auditory and linguistic tasks. Computational markers of horizontal and vertical belief propagation will be obtained by fitting our computational model to the behavior of each participant. We will also look for signatures of this different types of information propagation in neural data collected in EEG/MEG. Finally, we will look for correlations between psychosis spectrum traits of each individual and the model-inferred markers of belief propagation across participants.

This ambitious transdisciplinary project will benefit from the complementary expertise of the partnering teams in computational neuroscience, modelling of behavioural data, neuroimaging, individual differences, and clinical psychology.

The successful candidate will be enrolled in the Mathematics doctoral program at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in the framework of the TOUCH project. TOUCH (“Towards the next generatiOn of excellent yoUng doctoral researchers on mental health by developing an intersectoral & transdisciplinary approaCH”) is a new excellent doctoral programme co-funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Actions of the European Commission and led by the UAB for the recruitment and training of 24 doctoral candidates in the field of mental health and wellbeing.

The computational neuroscience unit at the CRM is made up of the groups of three Principal Investigators (Alex Roxin, Klaus Wimmer and Alex Hyafil). The unit is an active member of a larger, Barcelona-wide Neuroscience community which includes theoretical, experimental and clinical groups. Broadly speaking, we investigate how large assemblies of interacting neurons give rise to animal and human behaviour. Our approach combines computational modeling, behavioural experiments, neuroimaging and data analysis.

The Person-Environment Interaction in Risk and Resilience for Mental Health integrates clinical practitioners from public mental health centers in Barcelona and world-leading clinical, developmental and genetics researchers. Our approach is characterized by a multi-level approach, integrating the study of person-factors, environmental exposures and genetic variability that moderates the impact of environmental factors on the person.

We are looking for candidates with an excellent CV, ahigh degree of ambition and motivation, and with good personal qualities to work in our Team. We offer a 3-year full-time contract (37,5 hours/week) and a gross salary of 2.375 €/month (the salary will be the same for the 3 years).

The candidates must fulfil the following eligibility criteria from the EC: Mobility rule: candidates must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately preceding the deadline for the programme call. Experience rule: researchers must be doctoral candidates at the date of recruitment, i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the deadline of the open calls. Researchers who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but have not yet formally awarded the doctoral degree will not be considered eligible. Candidates must hold a degree that allows admission to the official doctoral programme at UAB.

Additional requirements for a stronger application are:

• MSc or equivalent in Cognitive Science, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science or a related field.
• Proficiency in English at a minimum B2 level.
• Interest in learning computational science methods.
• Strong communication skills to effectively disseminate research results to diverse audiences.

Other skills:

• Ability to work in a team, critical thinking, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.

• Theoretical background in Cognitive psychology, Statistics and Computer Science.

Informal inquiries about the position or specific requirements are welcome! ([email protected] ). Interested applicants should apply through the TOUCH online platform by submitting a full CV, a motivation letter, two letters of recommendation and academic and English level certificates. The call will be open from the 1st of April to the 30th of June 2024. More information about the TOUCH project, the recruitment process, and the application platform are available on the TOUCH website .

 

Requirements

Research Field

Computer science

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Excellent

Additional Information
Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Centre Recerca Matemàtica

Country

Spain

Geofield

Where to apply

Website

https://webs.uab.cat/touch/

Contact

State/Province

Barcelona

City

Cerdanyola del Vallés

Website

https://www.crm.cat/

Street

Campus UAB

Postal Code

08193

E-Mail

[email protected]

STATUS: EXPIRED